By:Hertha Ekandjo
Mines and energy minister Tom Alweendo says that negligence from his ministry’s officials responsible for dealing with export permits led to Chinese mining company Xinfeng Investments being issued with export permits totaling 135 000 tons of crushed ore.
Alweendo said thathis officials neglected to agree with the company on the total quantity of ore that should be exported for testing purposes.
Xinfeng has already exported 75,000 tons of lithium ore to Chine, with another 60,000 tons awaiting to be exported to that southeast Asian country.
The minister visited the company’s mining operations just out of Omaruru, in the Daures constituency, on 18 November. This is after The Villager reported that the Chinese mining company was still exporting lithium ore out of Namibia through the port of Walvi Bay, despite being barred from doinglast month until investigations are completed.
The ministry later stated that Xinfeng was permitted to export lithium ore,despite an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption, because the company already had a vessel en route to Walvis Bay before the export permit was canceled
“I have also visited the Walvis Bay harbour to verify the quantity that is stored there waiting to be exported,”Alweendo said.
The minister admitted that the 135,000 tons of lithium ore are an unreasonably high quantity for testing purposes, adding that the company decided to export crushed ore not only for testing purposes but also to make an income for its operations.
For the past three weeks, the public has shown concern, following multiple eyewitnesses sharing videos via social media platforms regarding the company being in full operation even after the mining ministry earlier this year has banned it from mining and exporting lithium.
According to the minister, the ministry found out that the companyafter the ban wasstill within the quantity for which they had valid export permits as issued by the mining commissioner.
Alweendo replaced former mining commissioner Erasmus Shivolo with Isabella Chirchir unceremoniously after the scandal broke.
“The ministry has agreed with the company that what still needs to be exported based on the issued permits must be exported by 29 November 2022. It must also be noted that the company has paid a royalty of N$2m for the 75,000 tons so far exported,” the minister has revealed.
In 2018, the global mine output of lithium was around 91,000 t Li-content of which only 1,200 tons originated from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), namely Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The total global lithium reserves are estimated at 14 million tons. This corresponds to 165 times the production volume in 2018.
The minister further mentioned that Xinfeng is the same company that was alleged to have obtained an EPL inappropriately, where the company allegedly paid N$50million to acquire the license.
He stated that allegations are still being investigated by the ACC and that it should be noted that the mining license from which the crushed ore in question is being exported is not the same as the one surrounded by bribery allegations.
“These are two separate licenses owned by the same company,” Alweendo said.
He explained that the recent allegation of the N$50million bribes paid to some officials in the ministry to award an exploration license inappropriately has spotlighted a potential weakness in how exploration applications are evaluated and eventually awarded or declined.
He mentioned that over the years a trend has emerged where exploration rights are awarded to applicants that have not proven any serious intention to do exploration. “For some applicants, the main reason why they apply for exploration licenses is not so much to do exploration but to rather trade with the licenses once awarded,” he charged.
Meanwhile, Alweendo has argued that ensuring that exploration licenses are awarded only to those with a proven ability to do exploration and expedite the discovery of minerals, to provide more employment opportunities to Namibians and enhance the sector’s financial contribution to the state will be in the best interest of our long-term minerals development.
“We are well aware that this will not be appreciated by all who wish to participate in mineral exploration activities. Some will argue that demanding that applicants prove their abilities to do exploration will disadvantage previously disadvantaged Namibians, resulting in a situation where only foreign companies will be awarded exploration licenses. The unfortunate truth is that it is the very Namibians that continue to sell their licenses to the foreign exploration companies,” he pointed out.
Minister Blames Officials For Lithium Over-Exportation
